Sighting indicator for firearms



om igen-2mm? April 12 1927. 1,624,347

J. W. F. LAMONT ET AL SIGHTING INDICATOR FOR FIREARMS Filed May 22. 1926.dil i .d i l misil,

Patented Apr. 12, 1,927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WILLIAM FRASER LAMONT AND HERBERT DICKINSON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND;SAID DICKIN SON ASSIGNOR TO SAID LAMONT.

SIGHTING INDICATOR FOR FIREARMS.

Application filed May 22, 1926, Serial No. 110,990, and in Great BritainMay 26, 1925.

Our invention relates to an improved indiits two ends to the usual slingclips provided eating device adapted for use in connection with thesighting of tire-arms. This is intended to show the degree ofcorrectness in the sighting oi' the tire-arm by momentarily projectingupon the target a spot of light, the projection of which is controlledby the trigger ot the fire-arm.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple and improved deviceof this type adapted to be readily fitted to almost any existing type offire-arm and embodying an improved form of electrical contact adapted tobe actuated by or through the firing mechanism thereof so as to close anelectric circuit momentarily and to thus illuminate an electric lampwhich projects a spot of light by means of a reiector and optical lensor lenses on to the target so as to indicate the spot on which thefire-arm was aimed.

According to this invention, We employ a sim )le form of electricalcontact comprising a slidable Weight adapted to be actuated through thehammer or bolt ot' the tire-arm or through the momentum or impactthereoil so as to cause the Weight to slide and to en gage contacts soas to complete an electrical circuitthrough a small electric lampconnected with a suitable battery mounted upon the fire-arm or carriedby the user. Suitable spring or other means are employed.7 to return theslidable Weight and again break contact so as to extinguish the lamp. Areflector and suitable lens or lenses are provided so as to project thelight from the lamp in the required direction. The slidable contact:levice and the light and optical system forits projection arepreferably embodied in a single unit, such for instance as a tubularcasing or upon a single base. In the case of a sporting gun or liketire-arm, the hammer or its equivalent may strike directly upon thesliding Weight or upon a pin or connection adapted to transmit theimpact of the hammer or its equivalent thereto so as to actuate theWeight and close the electrical circuit momentarily at the requiredtime. W hen it is required to tit our improved device to a rifle of theWell known service pattern, the contact device and the optical systemmay be connected up as a unit 1n a suitable tubular or other casingadapted to be secured as an attachment to the exterior of the rie as forinstance by attaching on the fore part of the rifle. In this case theslidable weight is very delicately balanced and is adapted to beoperated to close the circuit through the impact' of the bolt of therifle when this is released. The resultant jar ot' the released boltwill be communicated through the rifle so as to cause the delicatelybalanced Weight to move under the influence of the momentum imparted toit so as to close the circuit momentarily, a suitable spring acting toreturn the Weight almost at once. In this manner no actual alterationsare necessary to the riiie itself and no connection need be made to itsmechanism. In ntting the device into a sporting gun or the like in whichthe bore of the barrel or the chamber for the reception or' thecartridges is ot' considerable dimension, our improved device may bemade to fit in the breech of the gun in the place of a cartridge. Thevoltage or current for illuminating the lamp may be considerably abovethe normal for which the latter is intended so as to obtain the desiredbrilliance during the exceedingly short period for which the lamp isilluminated.

In order that our invention may be clearly understood, reference is madeto the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of aservice rifle with one form of our improved device fitted thereto as anattachment.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section showing 2li suitable arrangement of thedevice used in tig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a part sectional view of a sporting gun showing our improveddevice itted Within the barrel thereof.

Fig. 4 is a part sectional elevation to an enlarged scale of the devicefitted in the breech of the sporting gun, and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic arrangement of a. suitable form of slidingcontact device and electrical lamp according to our invention.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, our improved indicating device l is arrangedas a unit in a tubular casing and is shown fitted to a standard servicepattern rifle 2 being connected to the bands 3 and et on the fore partof the rifle and Which usually act as clips for securing the sling.Electric leads 5 extend from the rear end of the device to a suitableelectrical battery or other source of current which may be carried onthe person of the user or mounted on the rifle or in any other suitableposition.

The construction of the indicating device l is shown in Fig. 2 andcomprises an outer tubular casing 10 itted with a projector lens 11 atits forward end and a reflector 12 in a suitable position along itslength. In front of `the rellector is supported a small electric lightbulb 14 so that when this is illuminated the light from the reflectorwill be projected by the lens 11 so as to be focused in a bright spotupon the target at which the rifle is directed. It desired, a suitablecondenser 15 may be provided between the lamp 14 and the projector lens11, but this may be omitted if desired. In the latter case, thereflector 12 will be suitably formed to act as a combined reflectorlens.

In the rear portion of the casing 10 is supported the electrical contactdevice comprising a block of insulating material 2O in which issupported a pair of contact blades 21, each of which are connected incircuit with the lamp and an electric battery. Centrally mounted in theblock 20 is a spindle 22 upon which is arranged the Contact Weight 23,whilst the rear end of the spindle 22 engages in a guide plate 24. Asuitable fine spring 25 is interposed between the contact weight 28 andthe block 20 so as to normally hold the former out of contact with theblades 2l. The front end of the spindle 22 is screw-threaded andprovided with an adjusting nut 26 by means of which the position of theweight 23 may be adjusted. The cap 27 in the rear end of the casing 10is provided with an opening 28 through which the leads upon the batterymay pass. If desired, the casing 10 may be made in two parts separablenear the end of the block 20 so as to facilitate access to the nut 26 orfor other purposes.

The slidable contact weight 23 is adapted to be actuated by the impactof the bolt 6 of the riiie when this is released by the trigger 7. Inthe usual service pattern rifle, the force of impact of the bolt 6 whenreleased is sutlicient to cause the slidable weight 23 to move towardand engage the two blades 21 so as to close the electric circuit throughthe lamp 14. The effect is however, only momentary, and the spring 25again returns it to its original position, breaking the contact so thatthe lamp will only be illuminated for a very short period. The result ofthis is that a spot of bright light will be projected upon the target ina position at which it would have been struck by a bullet had the riflereally been fired at the time the trigger was pulled. This enables theaccuracy with which the riiie was sighted to be easily tested in anysuitable place without the necessity for actually firing the same andconsequently avoiding all danger or the necessity for taking specialprecautions against it.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, these show the application of ourimproved device to a. sporting gun in which the slidable contact weightis actuated directly by the mechanism of the gun.r The sporting gun 30is provided with a suitable projection lens 3l in the barrel thereof,and an electric lamp 32 and reflector 33 are arranged in the barreltoward the breech end thereof. In the actual breech of the gun is fitteda slidable contact device in such a manner that the actual firingmechanism of the gun will actuate the weight directly when it isreleased by the trigger 34. In the sectional view shown in Fig. 4 theblock 40 of insulating material supports the two contact blades 41 andthe spindle 42 carrying the slidable contacts 43. A spring 44 isprovided bet-Ween the Weight and the block 40, and a nut 45 is providedon the screwthreaded end of the spindle 44 for adjustment purposes. Inthe end of the breech is provided a cap 46 having a loosely fitting pin47 therein, the outer end of which projects slightly' from the cap andis located so that it will be struck sharply by the end of the firinglever 48 when this is released by the trigger 34. This arrangementapplies to the type of sporting gun known as a hammer-less type, but itis to be understood that the actual hammer may serve the same purpose inthe type of sporting gun so tted. The impact of the firing lever 48 onthe loose pin 47 will cause it to strike sharply upon the slidableweight 43 moving it into Contact with the two blades 41 so as to closethe circuit and cause the electric lamp to be illuminated. Sufficientclearance is however, left between the end of the loose pin 46 and theend of the slidable weight 48 to permit' the latter to return under theinfluence of the spring and so again break the circuit and extinguishthe lamp automatically.

In Fig. 5 is shown a` diagrammatic arrangement in which a lamp 50 andlens reflector 5l are mounted upon a base board 52 of insulatingmaterial. A pair of contact blades 53 and 54 are also arranged on thebase board 52 and connected in circuit with the lamp and a suitablesource of electric current. Slidably mounted in guides 55 is a spindle56 carrying upon its end the slidable plate 57 and having a coil spring58 arranged around the spindle and between one of the guides 55 and anadjustable nut 59 on the spindle. Movement of the slidable weight 57 maybe effected by an actual blow upon the end of the spindle 56 so as tocause the weight 57 to strike against the contact blade 54 so as tobring it into engagement with the other Contact blade to complete thecircuit. Instead of a direct lll() blow upon the spindle 56, themomentum caused by' the impact of some other movable part such as thebolt ot a rifle may be employed for causing the slidable Weight to movein the desired manner.

lVhilst our improved device has been described in detail as applied tosmall arms such as rifles, sporting guns and the like it is to beunderstood that it may be equally well applied in connection with largerlirearms such as ordnance, machine guns and the like.

l. A sighting indicator for firearms comprising an electric lampconnected in circuit with a source of current,a pair of contact bladesalso connected in the circuit, a guide, a slidable bodily movable weightassociated with said guide and adapted to be actuated by the mechanismof the gun when released by the operating trigger to close the contactsand an optical system to project the light from the lamp so as tomomentarily produce a spot of light upon the target.

2. A sighting indicator for fire-arms comprising an electric lampconnected in circuit Wit-h a source of current, a pair of contact bladesalso connected in the circuit, a slidable Weight adapted to be actuatedindirectly by the momentum set up by releasing the .firing mechanism ofthe gun when released by the operating trigger to close the con tacts,spring means. to return the slidable Weight directly contact is made,and an optical system to project the light from the lamp so as tomomentarily produce a spot of light upon the target.

A sighting indicator for lire-arms comprising an electric lamp connectedin circuit with a source of current, an electrical contact device in theform of a pair of contact blades supported upon an insulating base andconnected in the electrical circuit, a slidable Weight, a centrallydisposed pin upon which is mounted the slidable Weight, a light coilspring interposed between the weight and the base anda loose pin mountedin a suitable guide and adapted to receive the direct blow of thestriker orf hammer of the gun and to in turn impart this to the slidableweight so as to cause it to 1nomentarily engage the contact blades.

4. A sighting indicator for fire-arms comprising a casing, a lamp andoptical system arranged in the forward part of the casing, a circuitclosing device in the rear end of the said casing comprising a block ofinsulating material, a pair of spring Contact blades mounted on theblock, an axial pin disposed between the blades, a slidable Weight onthe pin mounted so sensitively that the impact ot' the bolt ot' a riiewhen released will cause the Weight to move forward and engage thecontact blades and spring means to return the Weight so that onlymomentary fcontact will result.

5. A sighting indicator for fire-arms come prising a tubular casing, anelectric lamp located in the casing, a series of projecting lens infront of the lamp and a reflector behind it, a pair of contact bladesadapted to be connected in circuit with the lamp and a source ofcurrent, a Weight mounted on a pin slidable in guides in the casing, sothat the impact of the firing mechanism when released Will cause theWeight to engage the contact blade, a spring to return the weight andmeans for adjusting the said spring.

6. A sighting indicator for ire-arms com prising a tubular casing, anelectric lamp located in the casing, a series of projecting lens infront of the lamp, and a reflector behind it, a pair of contact bladesadapted to be connected in circuit With the lamp and a source ofcurrent, a weight mounted on a pin slidable in guides in the casing, aloose pin mounted in a guide in the rear end of the case and having aprojecting end adapted to be struck directly by the hammer of the guncausing it to strike the Weight and impel it against the contact blades,a spring to return the Weight after contact is made and means foradjusting the said spring.

JOHN WILLIAM FRASER LAMONT. HERBERT DICKINSON.l

